1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control rear-view mirror assembly which is angularly adjustable for a desired rear view by a manual actuator located remotely therefrom.
2. Prior Art
Many present day automotive vehicles are equipped with a remotely controlled rear-view mirror mechanism which includes a mirror holder mounted for universal swivel movement in a housing supported by a bracket mounted exteriorly on the vehicle, and a remotely located actuator knob coupled to the mirror holder through a plurality of control wire elements for transmitting universal pivotal motion to the mirror holder. Upon pivotal movement of the actuator knob in a certain direction, the mirror holder is movable in a corresponding direction.
Since the housing is connected to the bracket typically by means of screws or bolts and nuts, a problem arises in preventing the housing from loosening out of the fixed position as a result of vehicle vibrations. One proposal to minimize this difficulty would be to use as many fasteners as possible to give increased mechanical strength to the connection between the housing and the bracket, but in such instance the assembling procedure would become quite complicated and time-consuming.
Furthermore, the automotive vehicles are subjected to a wide range of temperature variations, from -30.degree. C. in winter up to +70.degree. C. in summer, resulting in relative dimensional changes between parts having different coefficients of thermal expansion, such as the mirror holder made of metal or synthetic resin and the mirror made of glass. Under such thermal conditions, the mirror holder can either expand until it allow the mirror held therein to get loosened and displaced relatively to the mirror holder, or shrink until it distorts or breaks the mirror.
The control wire elements have ferrules on one end thereof that are retained in grooves in the mirror holder. However, with some prior arrangements, the ferrules tend to move in the grooves when the control wire elements are tensioned, with the result that the mirror cannot properly be controlled by the actuator. There has been proposed a separate retainer or ball which retains the attached ferrules in position. Use of such separate retainer is disadvantageous because the assembling of the retainer on the mirror holder involves a tedious task.